Hands-on with the new iPhone 5, iPod touch, and iPod nano

The devices are definitely fast. And light, too.

We went hands-on with Apple's new iPhone 5, iPod touch, and iPod nano following Tuesday's special media event, and all three devices come off as much faster than their predecessors. Let's start with the iPhone 5.

I compared the iPhone 5 to my old iPhone 4 (which has the same screen size as the more modern iPhone 4S). The devices feel similar, but the iPhone 5 is definitely taller. Holding the iPhone 5 by itself, it's hard to even tell that it's physically taller, but the added screen space is a benefit in many ways: a 16:9 aspect ratio for movies, larger space for apps, and even an extra row of apps on your springboard.

Next is the bottom of the iPhone 5. I have an old, crusty iPhone 4 on top with the iPhone 5 on the bottom. As you can see, the iPhone 5 has speakers on the bottom as well as a headphone jack and the new Lightning connector. (The iPhone 4 and 4S have a headphone jack on the top.)

It's worth noting that both the white and black iPhone 5s have aluminum backs. But with the black iPhone 5, the backplate is also black (or rather, "carbon"). It's hard to tell in photos, but when you look at it in person, the back is matte and different from the gray aluminum back of the white iPhone 5.

Next up is the iPod touch. This device is thin. I was impressed by the level of thinness here, and the colors are a first for the iPod touch.

Again, the headphone jack (as well as speakers and the Lightning connector) are on the bottom of the iPod touch.

Subjectively, the iPod touch also feels extremely fast. Zooming around in 3D view within Maps was very speedy, and I think users will find this to be a huge plus.

And on the back, there's the camera:

Finally, there's the iPod nano, which is practically a mini iPod touch.

Holding the new nano, it feels very similar to the older "stick" (not fat) version of the nano.

On the bottom are a headphone jack and Lightning connector.

On the side are the volume control buttons.

You can read through our Apple liveblog coverage here and check out our reports of the iPhone, iOS 6, iTunes, and iPod announcements from today.

I'm glad that the iPhone is going with a larger screen, but does anyone else think the form factor of the phone makes it look anorexic? And not in a sexy model sort of way, but a "you've got a problem" sort of way.

The two tone look with the aluminum and glass looks just awful for both the white and black iPhone 5's. Not impressed at all. And I was really hoping for a physically larger screen - similar to a Galaxy Nexus or S3.

I think the new iPhone looks cheaper, but it is really hard to look at those photos, those green nails are grossing me out. Best features of the new iPhone are the connector and the narrower form factor, nothing else is really standing out for me. I really don't want to whine, but this could have been released a year ago.

I'm glad that the iPhone is going with a larger screen, but does anyone else think the form factor of the phone makes it look anorexic? And not in a sexy model sort of way, but a "you've got a problem" sort of way.

I think 16:9 is just a lousy aspect ratio for portrait orientation. Like how all those 10.1" tablets seem wrong in portrait and 4:3 just feels right (closer to paper's 8.5" x 11").

The new nano doesn't seem like an actual iPod. Somehow looks like a cheap iPod knockoff.

I think the new iPhone looks cheaper, but it is really hard to look at those photos, those green nails are grossing me out. Best features of the new iPhone are the connector and the narrower form factor, nothing else is really standing out for me. I really don't want to whine, but this could have been released a year ago.

Comments about nails, be they Jacqui's or Casey's should get mini bans.That said, how does the phone feel? Does it feel immediately cheap like the GS3? Or sturdy like the HTC One X?I wish the screen would've been bigger (3:2 ration) and that they'd have NFC. Other than that I'll pre-order just to get rid of this 3GS. Why? Because *baaa aaa*.

I think the new iPhone looks cheaper, but it is really hard to look at those photos, those green nails are grossing me out. Best features of the new iPhone are the connector and the narrower form factor, nothing else is really standing out for me. I really don't want to whine, but this could have been released a year ago.

As soon as I saw the first picture, I thought to myself "I wonder how long it will take until someone makes an off-putting comment about her nail polish?".

As far as all too common "this could have been released last year" comment, this phone is speculated to utilize a CPU based on A15 architecture (http://www.anandtech.com/show/6279/appl ... 15s-inside). I was not aware that last year's phones (or this year's) were based on this technology.

The iPad 5 just looks wrong. The proportions don't fit, it's too long / too thin and the backplate doesn't look good either.

Maybe I'll get used to the looks, but apart from the fat iPad nano, I can't remember the last time when Apple released a product that looked made such a weird and unattractive impression on me at first.

The iPad 5 just looks wrong. The proportions don't fit, it's too long / too thin and the backplate doesn't look good either.

Maybe I'll get used to the looks, but apart from the fat iPad nano, I can't remember the last time when Apple released a product that looked made such a weird and unattractive impression on me at first.

that Cortex A15 rumor really needs to be confirmed. It seems really doubtful. Much more likely is the previous Anandtech guess at the CPU in the iPhone 5: 1.5 GHz dual core A9. That would fit with the 2x performance guess (at least on the CPU), since the iPhone 4s had a 800 MHz dual core A9. The GPU is probably just a high clocked one too.

I would be very impressed with Apple if they actually used A15, which would put them at the top of the performance heap (roughly equal with qualcomm, whose Krait cores are roughly similar to Cortex A15).

Overall, I like the new design, but that screen is still a disappointment. It is close to 16:9, but not 16:9, remember. You know what would have been true 16:9? 720p, which would have matched the latest Android phones, and actually had a chance to competing with Android phones in the future. Remember, given Apple's track record, this is the screen that is going to be used in next years iPhone. So we won't see an update until late 2014 (And the iPod touch's screen won't be updated until 2015).

Is the edge of the glass on the iPhone 5 exposed like it is on the 4 and 4S? Or does the aluminum wrap around the edges like it does on the earlier models?

I'm also wondering that. I think that, and the glass on the back, were most of what was wrong with the last gen iPhone. It'd be really nice if they fixed that.

Edit: It looks to me like it still has the same problem on the front.

I'd guess that the glass is not exposed at the edge, although I agree that it's difficult to tell. The aluminum has been chauffeured at the edges to produce that smooth shiny finish. If the glass were to stick out, it would be asymmetrical when viewed from the side.

I believe the point of the design (aside from smartly hiding the glass edge) is to have the phone glisten or shimmer at it's edges.

Is the edge of the glass on the iPhone 5 exposed like it is on the 4 and 4S? Or does the aluminum wrap around the edges like it does on the earlier models?

This was also my biggest question.

From the pictures, it looks like the metal is flush with the glass. Hopefully this decreases the chances of the glass cracking when it lands poorly.

When I saw the full glass front and back of the iphone 4/4S, my first thought was that it needed to be encased.

I managed to crack a naked 3GS glass after a 1.5 years of use and one bad spill. The glass was a hair taller than the surrounding metal so it just happened to land in that perfect space to spider web the glass.

I hope ars or ifixit will put the 5 through its paces before purchasing. I need to know whether it can go naked or not.

I have suddenly realized that 0.5 inches is actually not that long a distance. I am not a smartphone owner but I have to think that for people who are considering android for the larger screens, this isn't going to be good enough to win them over.